April 30, 2023 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 30.04.2023, 19:00
Aid. Until May 11, Romanian cereal producers can submit requests for financial support to make up for the losses suffered due to cheap cereal imports from neighboring Ukraine. The total amount is approximately 20 million euros, half from the European Union budget, and the other from the Romanian state budget. On Saturday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kyiv said that the limitation of Ukrainian grain imports into the Union countries was categorically unacceptable and that such restrictions would not be in accordance with the association agreement between Ukraine and the EU and with the principles and rules of the European single market. Previously, the European Commission announced that an agreement in principle had been reached to allow the resumption of the transit of Ukrainian grain through Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania. In Bucharest, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă has welcomed the agreement that provides for a new support package worth 100 million euros for the affected farmers and stressed that Romanias strictly European position was a correct and balanced one.
Refugees. The Romanian Government has changed the method of granting the financial support offered by the Romanian state to Ukrainian refugees. As of May 1st, the money is allocated directly to the refugees, and not to the families that host them, as has happened so far. The aid will be offered unconditionally for one month only. In the next three months, Ukrainian refugees will have to get a job and enroll their children in school or kindergarten. From the 5th month, they can benefit from the help of the Romanian state only if they find a job.
May 1st. For the current May 1 mini-holiday, Romanians have chosen, as usual, the mountain resorts on Prahova Valley and the seaside resorts. The seaside festivals have attracted tens of thousands of young people from the country and abroad, and the accommodation units have reported an occupancy rate of over 90%. About 400 festivals, concerts, fairs and sports activities are scheduled in Romania these days. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has announced that approximately 24 thousand policemen, gendarmes and firefighters are on duty, throughout the country, to prevent and combat illegal acts, to ensure the flow of road traffic, as well as for the safe conduct of public events. Also, the Border Police has announced that all the necessary measures have been taken to ensure an effective control and reduce waiting times at the border, in particular the crossing points on the borders with Hungary and Bulgaria.
Coronation. The coronation of King Charles III of the United Kingdom, which will take place on May 6, will be available as an album for a worldwide audience. Decca Records has announced that it will record the ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London, as well as the music before the service under the title “The Official Album of the Coronation”, which it will release in streaming and for download on the same day. A physical version will be released on May 15. With a duration of over four hours, the album will include all the ceremonial as well as the background music, including 12 new compositions commissioned by Charles. After the religious ceremony on May 6, rooted in the monarchical tradition, but which the new king wanted to modernize, there will be three days of festivities in Great Britain.
Strike. A general strike scheduled for Monday in France will affect domestic and international rail and air transport, as well as public urban transport, warns the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Paris airport unions have announced that they will join the strike call, and passengers will be notified of possible flight cancellations or delays via SMS. For the days of May 2 and 3, the Civil Aviation of France asked the airlines to give up more than a third of the flight schedule at Paris-Orly airport as a result of the air traffic controllers strike.
Trafficking. Five foreign citizens were detained, on Sunday, in the Romanian resort of Mamaia on the Black Sea Coast, for high-risk drug trafficking, one of them being caught red-handed while selling ecstasy. According to a release by the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), the 5 transported, stored and possessed the drugs for the purpose of selling during a festival taking place in the resort during the May 1 mini-holiday. Previously, in another press release, the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police announced that, following a home search in Mamaia, more than 2 kilograms of high-risk drugs and large sums of money in lei and foreign currency had been found. (MI)
